SkyCode Horoscopes for February 12-18, 2018

Horoscopes to unlock the stars, not to be locked down by them.

“Venus in Pisces: Real Love?”

If you’re older than 40, then you likely remember Jody Watley. She hasn’t stopped making music, but she once was more popular. And I had the biggest crush on her, particularly as she appeared in her video “Real Love.” I even created a performance art piece at 25 years old inspired by her song…and the idea of “real love.” Fortune would have it, she very well might have a Venus in Pisces. (We unfortunately don’t have a birth time for her.)

As I mentioned last week, lovely Venus moved into stirring, emotive waters of Pisces on Saturday night. She’ll be in that sign until March 6th.Will she bring “real love” in her wake in time for Valentine’s Day?

“The exultation for exaltations is exaggerated”

Venus is said to be exalted in Pisces. A lot of people come to expect automatic goodness when a planet is exalted. But perhaps if people knew more about what happens when a planet’s exalted, they would hold better expectations for an exaltation. Exaltation has a different feel than rulership.

When a planet, like Venus, is in her home sign, like Taurus or Libra, she feels comfortable with all the things associated w/ her & has a natural authority.

An exalted planet, though, is like an honored guest in the home of another planet. That’s still good. But the “naturalness” of being “at home” disappears with exaltation and is replaced with more attitude and even more expectation. There’s more room for graciousness…and excess.

For instance, you might feel entitled to do and have things in another’s home that’s inappropriate. Kinda like the best bud who visits often and drinks all your good scotch. And he doesn’t even refill the ice trays he uses to make his drink on the rocks.

Exaltation is perhaps even more about how we relate to each other than rulership. Venus is considered a lesser benefic than the greater benefic, Jupiter. Benefic here means that both planets are associated with growth, good and pleasure. Many miss the significance of this because of the unfortunate association of Neptune as the ruler of Pisces. They don’t get the intricacies of the original system. These connections help us anticipate the excesses and challenges of Venus in Pisces, for example.

3 Pitfalls with Venus in Pisces

In Jupiter’s house, Pisces, Venus takes too many of her significations and Jupiter’s goodness for granted. Like Jupiter, she wants everything to be easy-going. And that leads to Pitfall #1.

Pitfall #1: Very conflict avoidant

“Let’s keep everything beautiful and harmonious,” Venus in Pisces says. Or “Don’t disturb this groove.” Vibes are very important in the Pisces signature, and when Venus is there, she wants to honor “good vibes.” She’s inclined to lose herself in her pleasure. Now, her pleasures could be chocolate or chiba (weed/marijuana). Or both. She definitely wants more of the good life and perhaps too much.

Pitfall #2: False saintly humility

Venus in Pisces may appraise her own value too much yet deny it at the same time. Let me explain. In her mind’s eye, Venus in Pisces is a saint. She might even feel she’s too good for some folks. Yet, she wants to bestow that goodness on others.

At the same time, she also might be too aware that she shouldn’t feel this way. She somehow knows her appraisal of her value, whether it’s her goodness, her beauty, or her talent is off. Not because she’s not any of those things. But she holds those things too high in value. She’s become attached to those things as defining who she is rather than remembering she is much more than any of those things. She must remember the source of her beauty, her charms, and her goodness.

When she doesn’t, then she transforms into a saint who becomes a martyr. And she becomes a martyr because she’s annoying. She might constantly remind you of all that she does for you and others. How others don’t appreciate her and all she does and can do. But this could all change if she would come honor her beauty and gifts as to be freely shared, if that’s what she chooses to do. This is truly honoring her host, Jupiter.

Remember: Jupiter signifies how we experience generosity and gratitude. When Venus hooks into those, then she can wisely bestow her gifts without complaint or feeling that she’s giving less than her worth. She knows her another can’t give true worth. It comes from above or within. She also develops boundaries and doesn’t confuse love with avoiding conflict. You must love enough to have boundaries. Love without that usually ends in loss.

Pitfall #3: Manipulation instead mercy and honesty

Venus in Pisces must transform manipulative tendencies into clarity and compassion. To better see this, go back to Pitfall #1: conflict avoidance. Once you realize that Venus wants to keep it easy, it’s clear how she will manipulate others rather than being upfront and clear about what she wants. One of the classic myths of Aphrodite/Venus beautifully illustrates this.

After seeing the beautiful handiwork of Vulcan, the ugly, short blacksmith, Hera, queen of the gods, pushes beautiful Venus into marrying Vulcan. Maybe she felt guilty. After all, Hera threw Vulcan, her own son, into the sea as a baby because she just couldn’t stand to have such an dreadful, deformed son. But once Hera saw the beauty Vulcan made as a man who survived her abandonment, she restored him back to his place among the gods on Olympus, with the most beautiful of goddesses to boot!

Anyway, Venus started creeping with the warrior god and more handsome Mars behind Vulcan’s back. Vulcan would try to catch them in the act, but never could. Mars was just too clever.

Yet, Venus in Pisces is the mythical moment that the goddess Venus could have come clean with her husband Vulcan & all involved. She might have seen beyond Vulcan’s ugliness to behold his inner beauty and how his ability to CREATE beauty matches her own given beauty. After all, she must have known her lustful relationship with Mars was a sure road to nowhere. It’s just pleasurable and fun. Mars ain’t interested in doing more than fightin’ & fuckin’. It might also be the moment when her compassion could have triumphed over her lust and love of pleasure to pursue a better life for herself & her husband.

In other words, in BIG Jupiter’s home in Pisces, Venus must grow up and strive to become bigger than her own petty pleasures & prettiness. She must step beyond herself and self-conceptions to be exalted by her divinity. But her divinity is what should lead her to be less prideful and more compassionate. Less saint and martyr and more wise giver. She has learned boundaries, and savvy enough to know when she’s avoiding an inevitable conflict to keep a hollow peace. She must not sacrifice pieces of herself for “peace.”

If she avoids these things, then in Pisces, she puts on her big Jupiter pants and grows. Others exalt her for her charm and beauty rather than doing the heavy lifting herself. She would know that she’s buoyed by her contact to Source, whether you wish to see that as “God,” Cosmos or the triumph of the human spirit. In Jupiter’s house, Venus sees the big picture and rises to the occasion.

Will she? Well, now that you know the pitfalls, that part is up to you.

***

“Wait!” you say. “What about Thursday’s solar eclipse?!!!!”

Well, now that I’ve talked so much about powerful Venus in Pisces, I’ll have to dig more into this companion eclipse to the Great American eclipse from 8/21/17 next week. Don’t worry: eclipses don’t often manifest their changes immediately. Sometimes the “effects” come early, but most take 1-3 months afterward for their possible meanings to register. So, a week later shouldn’t throw you off much. In the interim, work your affirmations…and this Venus in Pisces.

How to read and use these affirmations

You could choose to read these only for “your sign.” Perhaps that might be your Sun, Moon, or ascendant sign, if you’re familiar with those terms and your chart. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that, though.

I would skim through them all and see which affirmation affirms your life this week:

Pay careful attention to the affirmation(s) that you resist. You probably need to meditate on and say those aloud often.

These affirmations are written for this week, but many of them might speak to you for longer, even a lifetime.

You might not know at the top of the week what you need to affirm. But you might have a sense from the previous week, from a dream or something that happens right on Monday morning. You can also visit this page later in the week to see what resonates. You might also discover I write more for another planet or sign in your chart. I talk more about this here.

My desire is to prompt you to read more for your whole chart, not just what you know or understand your birth chart to be. It’s also possible that none of what I write here speaks to you, and that’s okay. The goal is to open and to explore. That’s the only way we ever truly know anything.

The Signs of Saturn

Planets or Ascendant in Capricorn and/or Aquarius

Capricorn (Cardinal, Earth sign)

Affirmation:

I am honest without being “brutal,” am kind without being weak..

Aquarius (Fixed, Air sign)

Affirmation:

I am generous with my wealth to those able to receive it.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

The Signs of Jupiter

Planets or Ascendant in Sagittarius and/or Pisces

Sagittarius (Mutable, Fire sign)

Affirmation:

I imbue my home and dear ones with love and generosity just because.

Pisces (Mutable, Water sign)

Affirmation:

I adore and love my body fiercely enough to accept all of it.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

The Signs of Mars

Planets or Ascendant in Aries and/or Scorpio

Aries (Cardinal, Fire sign)

Affirmation:

I am kind to all, but even more to kindred spirits.

Scorpio (Fixed, Water sign)

Affirmation:

I own my pleasures and my joys without shame or guilt.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

The Sign of the Sun

Planets or Ascendant in Leo

Leo (Fixed, Fire sign)

Affirmation:

I focus more on who and what I love than what I fear and experience more of the best life has to offer.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

The Signs of Venus

Planets or Ascendant in Taurus and/or Libra

Taurus (Fixed, Earth sign)

Affirmation:

I boost the friends and colleagues who make a difference in the world, not just my life.

Libra (Cardinal, Air sign)

Affirmation:

I create without more of the beauty I feel within.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

The Signs of Mercury

Planets or Ascendant in Gemini and/or Virgo

Gemini (Mutable, Air sign)

Affirmation:

I appear polished and successful to others effortlessly.

Virgo (Mutable, Earth sign)

Affirmation:

I welcome and receive love and appreciation from those who give it earnestly.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.